He was the oldest member of the famous Milburn footballing clan. Although christened
John, like his cousin and nephew, the fans knew him as Jack. His cousin Jackie, known as
'Wor Jackie', played for Newcastle United. Other members of the Milburn family included
brothers George (Leeds United and Chesterfield), Jimmy (Leeds United and Bradford Park
Avenue) and Stan (Chesterfield, Leicester City and Rochdale), as well as his nephews Bobby
and Jack Charlton of England and World Cup fame. He was also married to Jimmy Potts’ sister.
An ex-miner he began with Seaton Hirst Corinthians and Spen Black & White before signing for
Leeds in November 1927. Starting with the Leeds Mid-week team as a full-back, he worked his
way through the Leeds teams for a year, until he was given his debut a year later and thereby
started the long association of the Milburn/Charlton family and Leeds United. He started his
League career at Elland Road as a Right Back as partner with Bill Menzies, but later switched
to Left Back when he partnered his brother George. Jack had a kick like a mule and was
appointed United’s penalty taker. It was a job that he relished. In 1935-36 he scored from
the spot nine times in League matches, a club record. He was rarely out of the side for ten
years and enjoyed three seasons as an ever-present. He also captained United but, after losing
his Right-Back spot to Les Goldberg, he moved to Norwich City in February 1939, for a £2,000
transfer fee. With the onset of the Second World War, he guested for United in sixty-four
wartime games and recovered quickly from a broken leg sustained against Barnsley in August
1943. He made his Wartime debut at Right Back in the Regional League North-East Division on
16th March 1940 in a 1-2 defeat at Hartlepools United and went on to play six games in that
campaign and one game in the War Cup. He scored twice in twenty-one games in the 1940-41 North
Regional League and also played four times in the War Cup of that season. He was back for the
1941-42 Football League Northern Section but scored once in the four appearances he made in
the Second Championship campaign. In the 1941-42 Football League Northern Section he figured
in four games in the First Championship and two in the Second Championship. The 1943-44
Football League Northern Section saw him make five appearances in the Second Championship,
while in the 1944-45 Football League Northern Section he scored twice in five games in the
First Championship and played nine games in the Second, but his 1945-46 Football League
Northern Section appearances were restricted to three of the first five games of that campaign.
He also guested for Darlington in 1939-40, playing five games for them, together with one for
Bradford City as well as ten times for his own club Norwich City in that season, before
returning to Bradford City in 1945-46 and scoring six goals in seventeen games. But in October
1946, after he had played fifteen League games, excluding three games played in the aborted
1939-40 season, while at Carrow Road, he signed for Bradford City as Player-Coach to Jack
Barker, aged thirty-eight. Barker resigned in January 1947 after just eight months in charge
leaving Milburn as the natural replacement and becoming the club's first ever Player-Manager.
Milburn led the club to fifth in Division Three North in his first six months in charge. The
following season the club finished just fourteenth and in July 1948 Milburn handed over to
David Steele although he remained at the club as Steele's assistant. He played fourteen League
games while at Valley Parade and scored three goals. At his peak he was tipped for England
honours, but the nearest he got was when he toured Czechoslovakia and Hungary in the 1934
close season, but did not get a game. He died in Leeds on 21st August 1979, aged seventy-one.